The present invention relates to a method and a device for managing the supply of wrapping and/or additional and/or auxiliary materials in a system for the manufacture of tobacco products.
Manufacturing systems for tobacco products generally comprise a plurality of machines linked one to another along a common production line. In particular, such machines will include a cigarette maker at the upstream end of the line and, arranged in succession proceeding toward the downstream end, a filter tip attachment, a packer, a cellophaner, a cartoner and finally a machine by which pluralities of cartons are packed into boxes and transferred to an end-of-line palletizer, ready for dispatch. The system may also comprise a temporary storage unit of variable capacity associated with one or more of the machines, serving to compensate any differences in operating speeds, and possibly a filter plug maker associated with the filter tip attachment.
In systems of the type in question, each machine needs to be supplied periodically with consumables and packaging materials, including tobacco filler, filter plugs, rolls of cigarette paper, metal foil paper and thermoplastic material, packet blanks and finally coupons and revenue stamps.
To this end, each machine is equipped with at least one sensor monitoring the consumption of the relative materials, as well as a counter positioned at the outfeed stage of the machine and serving to indicate the number of items turned out during the respective production cycle.
Currently, the demands of the market dictate that production be organized in limited runs dedicated in each instance to a given type (brand) of tobacco product, with the result that the machines have to be shut down and the various consumables replaced entirely or in part. Moreover, these systems are subject to somewhat frequent and lengthy stoppages so that scheduled maintenance work can be carried out, and this in turn requires the removal of any unused consumable materials from the machine.
Conventionally, the task of renewing the supply of consumables to the various machines is carried out by production line operators, relying on an approximate and empirical approach that obviously causes the materials in question to be wasted, and especially during the final stage of the production run. This waste of material results in an unwanted overproduction of the particular brand of tobacco product, creating the problem of a stock surplus to the actual requirement, which must then be sold or possibly recycled.
It happens also, in view of the current criteria adopted for the management and supply of materials, that following a production run dedicated to one particular type of product, a relatively lengthy period of time is needed to set up the system in readiness for the manufacture of another type of product, since the materials remaining from the previous run must be replaced with new materials.
The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome the problems mentioned above by seeking to minimize waste.